Ex-Marine plans to beat PTSD by trekking every country

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Photos:Is it possible to run around the world?

Running around the world – The Marines helped him overcome a life of drugs, and now a life project to run across every country in the world will help him overcome PTSD -- Akshay Nanavati's trek across Greenland, completed in 2012, was the first on his mission.

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Photos:Is it possible to run around the world?

20 countries in a year – It will take 20-25 years to complete all 193 countries (as declared by the UN), though he plans for a quick start, crossing 20 countries between now and May 2015.

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Beach run – Nanavati's latest run took place in the Caribbean in June 2014. This is a picture from Barbados.

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Running for the rest of my life? – "On a 50-kilometer run last weekend, I went through many moments where I asked myself 'Do I really want to do this for the rest of my life?'," says Nanavati. "But as soon as I got back home, I found a 50-miler that I want to run next."

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28 days in Greenland – Nanavati's 28-day journey through Greenland was the first.

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190-pound extra weight – He dragged a 190-pound sled with full of supplies across the ice and snow of Greenland. Some sections were completed on skis.

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Running, walking, skiing – "For some places, like Greenland and eventually Antarctica, I will be on skis -- apart from walking and jogging," says Nanavati. "I officially define the expedition as 'crossing every country in the world on foot,' if someone really were to get technical about it."

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Finishing line in Greenland – He completed the one-month trek across Greenland "in a tiny hunting village on the east coast ... where there are more dogs than people. I was greeted by two Inuit boys who wanted to drag my sled to the final house where we would take our first shower in a month."

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Avid traveler – "I have always been an avid traveler as well, so it occurred to me that there would be no better way to see the planet and the people that live within it than by doing so on foot." Here Nanavati's hiking up Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

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Other adventures – Nanavati has also spent two weeks mountaineering in Bolivia (pictured), doing Polar training in Norway and swimming with sharks in South Africa.

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Story highlights

Akshay Nanavati plans to run across every country in the world

He aims to complete around 20 countries by May 2015, with the whole project likely to take up to 20 years

The toughest run will be the one crossing Israel and Jordan while Rwanda's run is his most anticipated trip

"My thighs cramping up on the very first day ... the mental trauma ... physical adversity ... I felt a great deal of fear wondering how I would make it through the next month," says Akshay Nanavati.

The 30-year-old American businessman and former Marine is describing his 28-day run across Greenland in 2012, dragging a 190-pound sled.

"Waking up, swallowing down the most disgusting freeze-dried food, packing up our tents and skiing for up to 12 hours a day in temperatures so cold that on some days my entire beard would be covered in ice.

"This was my life for one month, except for the five days we were stuck in storms so powerful, the inside of our tent sounded like a washing machine."

"On some days my entire beard would be covered in ice," Nanavati says of his Greenland trip.

Nanavati finally completed the journey 20 pounds lighter in bodyweight, with mild frostbite on his fingertips, a swollen ankle and a sunburned nose.

And he's going to do it all again, about 190 times.

His mission is to run across every country in the world in the next 20-25 years.

There is no globally accepted definition for the number of countries in the world. The United Nations puts the figure at 193 and the U.S. State Department puts it at 195.

But that's a lot of running, whichever authority you listen to.

It's the first time this specific feat has been attempted, though other similar attempts have been recorded, and this former Marine is doing it in reaction to a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) diagnosis he received after returning from a seven-month deployment in Iraq.

"When I returned home from Iraq, the VA (Department of Veterans Affairs) diagnosed me with PTSD," Nanavati tells CNN.

"I see now that it is not PTSD but post traumatic growth that has led to my decision to run across the world, because I choose to do something that inspires me to wake up every morning in order to make my life and the world better."

Robert "the runningman" Garside trekked across 30 countries in five years during the late 1990s.

(Editor's note: An earlier version of this story included information about Garside's run that has since been removed.)

Starting with four crossings covering 125 miles (201 kilometers), around the Caribbean islands -- Barbados, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Antigua and Barbuda -- in June 2014, Nanavati aims to complete 20 countries by May 2015.

His mission will depend on meticulous planning and a willingness to embrace fear, he says.

"Every time I look at my itinerary and realize how much work I have to do, not just in terms of training, but also in terms of logistical planning, it terrifies me," says Nanavati.

He replace shoes every 350 miles (560 kilometers), requiring at least two pairs on each run.

"I have to not only plan for my next few runs, but plan for the ones after that as well to ensure success.

"On a 50-kilometer (31-mile) run last weekend, I went through many moments where I asked myself, 'Do I really want to do this for the rest of my life?'"

"But as soon as I got back home, I found a 50-miler (80-kilometer run) that I want to run next because, despite the pain, there is nothing like that feeling of reward that comes with accomplishing something that pushed your mind, body and spirit to its limits."